By Terence Dooley
Bury’s Scott Quigg (30-0-2, 22 early) and Manchester’s Anthony Crolla (29-4-2, 11 stoppages) are both in world title action at the Manchester Arena on July 18th against Darleys Perez and Kiko Martinez respectively. Quigg defends his WBA World Super bantamweight title and Crolla challenges for the WBA World lightweight belt.
They both fight out of Joe Gallagher’s Bolton-based gym, plus both boxers have shared bills in recent times. However, would-be burglars attacked Crolla in December, leaving him with a broken ankle and a fractured skull, and he faced an uncertain future.
With a comeback on the cards and a world title to work towards, “Million Dollar” has found a renewed sense of purpose. He headed into the town centre on Saturday afternoon for an open workout. His family came with him and his son, Jesse, stole some of the limelight by attempting to join him in the ring.
“He seems to like it—he’s a bit tired today, but he wanted to get in the ring because he wasn’t happy seeing me up there on my own,” said the 28-year-old when speaking to BoxingScene. “It’s nice to be up there in front of my family and the people of Manchester.
“It’s nice having an audience—these are the days you should enjoy. I always remember John Murray saying that your career’s over really fast so you should enjoy days like this and fight nights. These are the things you’ll look back at over the years, the things you’ll remember.”
Both boxers mingled with the onlookers after being taken through their paces by Gallagher. It was a chance to pose for photos, sign autographs and field questions.
“An old woman just said: ‘I’ve followed your career in the local paper over the years and it’s great that you're back,’—that’s made my day,” he said. “A lot of these people have said there’ll be there on the 18th. This makes them feel part of the night itself.”
He added: “One guy just asked me to do 50 press ups in the ring, you get a few whacky requests, but these people spend good money to watch our fights and it’s nice to see them.”
Zelfa Barrett, the nephew of former British and European light-weterweight champion Pat Barrett, has been brought in to replicate the title-holder's style. The word out of the gym is that Crolla is as ready as he will ever be.
“Zelfa’s a good kid, he’s a got a great head on him and a great team behind him—I believe he’ll be a future champion,” he said.
“He’s getting to train in the gym alongside champions and learning. That’s what I like about him—he puts in the work and studies the game as well.
“It’s a very tough fight. I need a career-best performance. I’m in a fantastic place, both physically and mentally, and will find the answers.”
Ticket sales for the show have been brisk, 12,000 have gone out already, and Crolla has done 2500 personally to ensure that there is a good turnout. He said: “It’s going to be rocking in there.
“I don’t have a website. I don’t have anyone doing my tickets. I do it all off my own back, some might say stupidly, but I have some friends who grab a few hundred from me and do the running about and collect money.”
With that, it was time for him to speak to the other media outlets. Open training sessions, press conferences and conference calls are strange beasts. The fighters move from station to station, answering the same questions over and over again. While waiting for Quigg, I watched him field the Carl Frampton question a fair few times.
Still, it’s part-and-parcel of promoting your fights. Quigg recognises and appreciates this. He said: “This is something I’ve enjoyed because the people who come out to support you pay money to watch you work, so this gives them the chance to interact with you. I was out running this morning, I’ve already done my hard training for the day, so I was happy to come down here as I had the weekend off.”
“It is a bit weird, yeah,” he said when asked how he felt about doing a workout in front of fans, shoppers, sunbathers and, yes, city centre eccentrics who had headed to Piccadilly Gardens to enjoy a brief bout of fine weather.
“I wondered why anyone would want to come and see me shadowbox, but I got in there and it gives you a bit of a boost being in front of a crowd of people again. I knew it was worthwhile as you’re putting the work in for the people who support you. I’d never just turn up to a fight and go through the motions after fans have paid to watch me. I put the work in for them—it’s good to see what it means to them.
“It’s going to be a massive night, myself defending and Anthony Crolla fighting for a world titles. Ricky Hatton boxed there 10-years ago against [Kostya] Tszyu. What could be better for Manchester than two Greater Manchester lads fighting for world titles? I believe that they’ll be two world champions from Gallagher’s Gym after the fights.”
Martinez is not in prime form, but he can still punch and took Frampton the distance in September. If Quigg puts a foot wrong, he could end up on the canvas. The fear of defeat drives him; he told me that this aversion to losing his ‘0’ keeps him sharp.
“These are the fights that you want, the ones that you wake up thinking about and knowing you have to take them to be the best,” he said. “To get yourself the edge needed for a win you need to prepare right.
“It only takes one punch in boxing. He’s a heavy handed fighter so brings that danger, but that doesn’t scare me—the fear of losing is what drives me on no matter who I’m fighting. I believe I can do a decent job on him.”
There was no point asking about Frampton at this point, the 26-year-old is fully focused on Martinez, a loss next month negates any talk of Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz—questions about them produce so much empty ephemera.
“I have people around me, but I like to be in the know and make my own decisions—that’s why I only take it one fight at a time,” stated Quigg. “We know what might be next, but the fights people talk about, Frampton and Cruz, won’t be there if I don’t get past Kiko—a win over him sets them up.”
Crolla’s return to the gym has also been a big fillip for his fellow fighters, especially his regular training partner.
“Last year, we did three camps together, pushing each other and swimming together at 5 in the morning,” said Quigg. “To have him back is great, and to have a world title shot is great. There was talk he wouldn’t fight again, so to come back and get into the shape of his life is great.”
“We say that things happen for a reason, you make them happen with the things you do. His body’s better, he’s stronger, quicker and more ready than he would have been if he’d have fought for the title in January [when he was due to contest the belt against Richar Abril].”
Now that Crolla’s pre-Christmas ordeal is well and truly over, there was time for a quick joke before Quigg went back over to a bunch of fans who had waited patiently for him during his media spots.
“I said: ‘Your defence weren’t too clever, you need to work on your peripheral vision!’,” he answered when asked how he welcomed his team-mate back into the gym. “Nah, we can have a bit of a giggle now, but it was a very dangerous thing that happened to him. He’s lucky to be alive, a quarter of an inch either way and he could have been dead.”
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